International Communication Association

The International Communication Association (ICA) is a non-profit academic association founded in 1950 as the National Society for the Study of Communication (NSSC), whose members are interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of human communication." The Association maintains an active membership of more than 4,300 individuals in 70 countries, approximately two-thirds of whom are academic scholars, professors, and graduate students. Other members are in government, the media, communication technology, business law, medicine and other professions. ICA is headquartered in Washington, D.C. In 2003, it was identified by the United Nations as a non-governmental organization. ICA was founded on January 1, 1950 in Austin, Texas as the National Society for the Study of Communication (NSSC), a subsidiary organization of the Speech Association of America (now the (United States) National Communication Association), when the SSA determined to exclude basic communication studies from its primary focus on rhetoric. The following year, NSSC published the first issue of its official journal, Journal of Communication.